Tractor type vehicles including tractors of the small garden type variety and larger agricultural units, lift trucks, backhoes, heavy construction equipment, and the like utilize operator seats which are usually cushioned consisting of foam pads encased within vinyl, fabric or suitable synthetic material, and such seats are often pivotal in a forward direction to permit the unoccupied seat to remain relatively dry in inclement weather. The mounting of the seat on the vehicle is usually accomplished by bolts extending through a seat mounting plate or bracket threaded into vehicle seat supporting pads or brackets, and such pads, brackets or surfaces are often an integral part of the vehicle transmission or differential casing.
As the location of the seat supporting pads and threaded holes is considered of secondary importance with respect to the vehicle construction the location of the seat supporting apparatus will vary between manufacturers of such equipment, and the seat supporting pads, holes and brackets for various models of vehicles manufactured by the same company will usually vary.
The seats of tractors and other equipment exposed to the weather are subjected to heavy use and adverse conditions, and often require replacement. Because of the differences in types of seat mountings the replacement of seats is troublesome as the dealer is usually unable to stock the wide variety of seats necessary to cover his entire line of tractor models and considerable delays are often encountered in the ordering and shipping of particular seats.
In order to alleviate the aforementioned inventory and mounting problems attempts have been made to devise seat mounting brackets which are usable with a wide variety of vehicle models and configurations, and while some success has been experienced in this area, heretofore, seat mounting structure which is substantially "universal" has not been available.
It is an object of the invention to provide a substantially universally mountable seat for tractors and the like which is capable of sufficient adjustment and versatility to permit mounting thereof upon a wide variety of tractor vehicles.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a universally mountable tractor seat which is of relatively economical construction, and wherein the use and assembly thereof does not require special skills.
An additional object of the invention is to provide universally mountable tractor seat apparatus permitting mounting upon a wide variety of vehicles wherein no machining modification of the mounting structure is necessary, and merely the locating of and tightening of threaded bolts is required to mount the seat.
In the practice of the invention the seat mounting apparatus includes a generally planar plate in which a plurality of elongated slots are defined for receiving threaded bolts wherein a plurality of arms may be adjustably mounted to the plate. The arms include elongated slots whereby tractor mounting bolts may extend therethrough to affix the arms and plate to the vehicle. Seat apparatus is pivotally mounted upon the plate, and, usually, seat bumpers, tie-down brackets, or other seat related structure is also mounted upon the plate.
The plate slots are of an elongated configuration, and preferably, are in the form of a cross wherein the slots intersect each other at their central regions in a perpendicular manner. The slots defined in the arms are also elongated, and, preferably, four arms are associated with the plate whereby the arms may be angularly related to each other to permit alignment with the tractor mounting pads and threaded holes for receiving the mounting bolts. Bolts inserted through the arm's slots and the plate slots permit a variety of angular relationships between the arms and plate to be achieved, and the elongated configuration of the arm slots for receiving the mounting bolts also produces an additional element of adjustability to accommodate the seat apparatus to the vehicle. Usually, two arms will be mounted on each side of the plate, and the arms are generally associated as overlapped pairs, one of the arms employing an offset to produce uniform horizontal orientation of the arms.